Randhawa, who shared the lead overnight, was an early victim to a combination of tiredness and strong winds as he dropped to three-over for the day after seven, but then showed his steely side as he willed himself back into contention by returning to par for the day and stayed at nine-over for the tournament.

Four groups ahead him, young Bhullar, who many reckon could be India’s next star in the making, played steady golf, holding his big hitting well in the face of strong winds. His 69 was built around a great eagle on the par-five 12th, where his drive rolled past 400 yards. He followed that up with a simple pitch to 20 feet, which he duly holed for the eagle, which for a while gave him sole lead at 10-under.

Ashok Kumar (71) in tied 12th at six-under 210 and Harinder Gupta (73) in tied 21st at four-under 212 and Dinesh Kumar (77), who dropped from overnight tied fourth to 27th at two-under 214, were the other leading Indian players.